Sermon Tone Analysis

More persecution

Herod - Agrippa 1 - Grandson of Harod the great.

Remember when the wise men were following the New Star to find the newborn King?

This Herod tried to appease the Jews.

James the brother of John (Sons of Thunder) Apostle of Christ.

Stephen - A guy put in charge of food distribution was martyred and got a whole chapter.

Luke gave James two words.

(Put to death/with a sword).

Pleased the Jews - If he pleased the Jews, they would not revolt against Rome - Harod would win favor with Rome.

During the days of Unleavened Bread.

7 day feast before the passover.

Each squad was four well trained and disciplined soldiers.

Total 16 soldiers.

Bring him out before the people: public trial (apostate)

But they have to wait for the Passover.

There are few things God does apart from prayer.

The church - congregation.

We tend to think of the Church as an entity and the people that go to the Church as the congregation of that particular Church.

Like the Church is a large bus and the members get on the bus and the pastor drives the bus.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of riding with Drew, Jonny, Carol, and a couple others to Mt. View.

I decided to ride in the back most of the time and as I rode and watched this small group of riders, I thought about how the church mentioned in the bible.

The ekklesia (the congregation) is like a group of motorcycle riders.

We all have the same purpose and destination, We help each other by communicating trouble or traffic.

We keep an eye out for one another, we wait for one another.

But ultimately this group is made up of individuals responsible for operating their own bike.

Everybody in the group didn’t ride the same.

Each person has their own style and own abilities.

Drew was up front leading most of the way, but although I was in the back, I knew where we were going and if Drew led us down a wrong path, I like everyone else in the group would have a responsibility to ride up front and communicate where we went wrong.

In Peter’s case, the church was praying fervently for God to intervene for Peter.

Prison Break

Check mate.

They got the tater.

Description of the account.

This isn’t the first time an angel of the Lord has sprung Peter.

In Acts 5 the apostles were put in prison and we are told in Acts 5: 19

Back to Acts 12:8

Sometimes you can be told big broad directions and you are good.

The Core Team last week decided we needed to get a back-up computer and get ours looked at.

Broad directives.

An I was good with that.

But when someone is in trouble and you want to help them, you can’t always just give them broad instructions.

We try to help people by saying, “read your Bible,” “Follow Jesus.”

That just adds to their stress and anxiety.

They may need what Peter was getting, “Get up, get dressed, put your shoes on, put on your coat, follow me.”

He thought it was a dream.

They - He and the angel.

Intersections - Its hard sometimes to recognize God’s hand in your life until after the fact.

Rhoda - I love that Luke recorded this for us.

Here in the South we would day “Bless her.”

I love that she was so excited, that she forgot to open the gate.

The aftermath

The fate of Herod - Herod was sideways with the people of two cities (Tyre and Sidon) and they were trying to make peace with him.

They won an audience with the King and when he started talking to them, they called him a god.

He didn’t correct them, and

Lessons from Acts 12

Bad things happen even when you follow Jesus.

James

Peter’s arrest.

Prayer moves God

3. God has a plan

Peter in a terrible predicament.

4. Joy comes when we follow God.

Peter realizing what God has done

5.

There is only one God